A weekend of boat arrivals

FOUR Sri Lankan asylum seekers returned home from Nauru during the weekend, as two more boats carrying 55 people were intercepted in Australian waters on Saturday and Sunday.

The Sri Lankan men were returned home after deciding "not to pursue their asylum claims", a statement from the Department of Immigration released on Sunday said.

A spokesman said the men had arrived after August 13, and were subject to the new offshore processing arrangements, instead returning home rather than wait at Nauru.

Meanwhile, a boat carrying 50 people and a second boat carrying five people were intercepted by Border Protection during the weekend, with all those aboard transferred to Christmas Island for initial immigration processing.

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